Man run over by Pa. asphalt roller, hospitalized MONROEVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A construction worker who lost control of an asphalt roller and fell off it on Friday was run over by it but was freed from beneath it and airlifted to a hospital. The man lost control of the heavy vehicle he was driving in Monroeville, 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, Monroeville police Chief Steven Pascarella said. Officials at the scene said they believe a hydraulic hose on the roller broke, sending the roller jerking fo...

Cheerleader pleads guilty to prostituting girl MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former cheerleader at a suburban Minneapolis high school pleaded guilty Friday to three prostitution-related counts, admitting she persuaded a younger girl to sell herself for sex, then pocketed the money. Hennepin County prosecutors said Montia Parker, 18, turned down a deal in which she could have received anywhere from 45 months to 60 months in prison. Instead, attorneys will argue over her sentence at a hearing in Octo...

Mississippi sheriff indicted on 31 charges JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A south Mississippi sheriff has been indicted on 31 counts, including charges accusing him of pushing an arrest in a murder case, even though a detective thought the suspect was innocent, and of snooping on employees at a restaurant that refused to accept a check from him. The indictment against longtime Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd was dated Thursday and made public Friday. It charges him with using his office to ret...

Colo. potty peeper sentenced to 3 years in prison BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man who hid in the tank of a portable toilet at a yoga festival to spy on women has been sentenced to three years in prison and 10 years of probation. Luke Chrisco's sentence was handed down Friday in Boulder. The 31-year-old pleaded guilty in July to attempted unlawful sexual contact and two burglary counts. Police arrested Chrisco in 2011 after a woman at a yoga festival in Boulder noticed something moving in...

Syrians bracing for possible US strike WASHINGTON (AP) — Edging toward a punitive strike against Syria, President Barack Obama said Friday he is weighing "limited and narrow" action as the administration bluntly accused Bashar Assad's government of launching a chemical weapons attack that killed at least 1,429 people — far more than previous estimates — including more than 400 children. No "boots on the ground," Obama said, seeking to reassure Americans weary after a decade of war ...

Tooth Fairy inflation: Price of a tooth nears $4 NEW YORK (AP) — Days of finding a quarter under your pillow are long gone. The Tooth Fairy no longer leaves loose change. Kids this year are getting an average of $3.70 per lost tooth, a 23 percent jump over last year's rate of $3. And that's a 42 percent spike from the $2.60 per tooth that the Tooth Fairy gave in 2011, according to a new survey by payment processor Visa Inc., released Friday with an update of the company's Tooth Fairy persona...

Suspect survives 200-foot fall down garbage chute SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A bank robbery suspect trying to elude police searching for him in an apartment building jumped into a garbage chute and survived a 200-foot fall into trash in the basement, police said Friday. Robin Gutheridge, 26, plunged from the 21st floor of the Clinton Plaza Apartments, a few blocks from the Chase Bank Branch he had robbed earlier, according to Sgt. Tom Connellan. He was conscious and told police he had climbed into...

Campbell recalls mislabeled cans sent to 5 states, including ArkansasCAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Campbell Soup said Friday it is recalling 80 cases of canned pasta because they are mislabeled: the label says the cans contain chicken broth, but they actually contain SpaghettiOs with meatballs. Campbell said the cans are labeled Swanson 100% Natural Chicken Broth. Because of the labeling error, consumers may not know the foods contain wheat, milk, and soy, which are allergens. The company said the food was made at a faci...

Why gas is edging higher ahead of Labor Day Gas is getting a bit pricier ahead of Labor Day weekend. The average U.S. price for a gallon of gasoline rose by 1.8 cents to $3.56 a gallon Thursday, its biggest overnight jump in six weeks, according to auto club AAA. Gas is starting to track the rising price of oil, which reached a two-year high this week on fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East. Gas had stayed fairly steady this month because of ample supplies at refineries. Oil, ...

Feds won't sue to stop marijuana use in 2 states WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite 75 years of federal marijuana prohibition, the Justice Department said Thursday that states can let people use the drug, license people to grow it and even allow adults to stroll into stores and buy it — as long as the weed is kept away from kids, the black market and federal property. In a sweeping new policy statement prompted by pot legalization votes in Washington and Colorado last fall, the department gave the gr...

Montana judge's apology rejected by victim's mother BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was raped by her teacher and later committed suicide appeared at a raucous Thursday protest against the judge who sentenced the man to a month in jail and said the victim was "older than her chronological age." The protest came as prosecutors considered an appeal of the sentence by Montana District Judge G. Todd Baugh, whose actions in the case have drawn condemnation from across the ...

Powers limited, Obama, Biden seek action on guns WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after gun control efforts crumbled in Congress, Vice President Joe Biden stood shoulder to shoulder Thursday with the attorney general and the top U.S. firearms official and declared the Obama administration would take two new steps to curb American gun violence. But the narrow, modest scope of those steps served as pointed reminders that without congressional backing, President Barack Obama's capacity to make a differ...

Police: Sister killed as 8-year-old boy drove car PHOENIX (AP) — Half an hour after putting her two children to bed, a Phoenix mother discovered they were gone. Frantic and fearful they had been kidnapped, she called police, who spotted her car near her apartment and tried to pull it over. After it swerved and crashed into a pole, police discovered the driver was the woman's 8-year-old son, and her 6-year-old daughter was a front-seat passenger. The girl died Thursday of injuries suffered in ...

J&J launches new cap to curb Tylenol overdoses WASHINGTON (AP) — Bottles of Tylenol sold in the U.S. will soon bear red warnings alerting users to the potentially fatal risks of taking too much of the popular pain reliever. The unusual step, disclosed by the company that makes Tylenol, comes amid a growing number of lawsuits and pressure from the federal government that could have widespread ramifications for a medicine taken by millions of people every day. Johnson & Johnson says the warn...

Fast-food workers stage largest protests yet NEW YORK (AP) — Fast-food workers and their supporters beat drums, blew whistles and chanted slogans Thursday on picket lines in dozens of U.S. cities, marking the largest protests yet in their quest for higher wages. The nationwide day of demonstrations came after similar actions organized by unions and community groups over the past several months. Workers are calling for the right to unionize without interference from employers and for pay ...

Football returns to Texas town hit by plant blast WEST, Texas (AP) — Four months after a fertilizer plant explosion tore through their small Texas community, killing 15 people and damaging buildings for blocks around, the West Trojans opened their football season and recovered a degree of normalcy that's been missing since the blast. The high school field, which became a triage site immediately after the April 17 blast in the community 100 miles south of Dallas, was replanted and repainted fo...

Court upholds 1st ban on gay-to-straight therapy SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court sided with California on Thursday and upheld the first law in the nation banning a psychological treatment that seeks to turn gay youth straight. In a resounding, unanimous opinion, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the state law barring the so-called gay aversion therapy legal in every respect. The judges said trying to change a minor's sexual orientation through in...

Heat proves too much for some Midwest schools LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Popsicles, fans and outdoor classes were no match for a late-summer heat wave in Minneapolis, where schools finally gave up after struggling through three miserable days of classes, while soaring temperatures also were giving students time off in Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa. Minnesota's largest school district called off classes Thursday and Friday in 27 buildings that lack much or any air conditioning. The decision came a...

Stronger US growth may lead Fed to slow bond buys WASHINGTON (AP) — A stronger-than-expected rise in U.S. economic growth last quarter will likely strengthen the hand of Federal Reserve officials who want to slow the Fed's bond purchases next month. The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from April through June, the government estimated Thursday. That was more than twice the growth rate in the first quarter and far above an initial estimate of a 1.7 percent rate for April through June....

Financial stress may hit your brain and wallet WASHINGTON (AP) — Being short on cash may make you a bit slower in the brain, a new study suggests. People worrying about having enough money to pay their bills tend to lose temporarily the equivalent of 13 IQ points, scientists found when they gave intelligence tests to shoppers at a New Jersey mall and farmers in India. The idea is that financial stress monopolizes thinking, making other calculations slower and more difficult, sort of like t...